Me + Your Inbox = Every Thursday Morning

Everything you need to know about Apex, NC emailed to you every Thursday morning at 6am.

Author

Adam Whitaker
January 09, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 16 minutes

👋 Good morning, Apex NC! This is the very first edition of The Peak Weekly — your secret weapon for staying in the know about everything going on in and around Apex.

Starting today, we hit your inbox every Thursday at 6am with all of the news you need to know.

Here is what’s inside today:

📂 Miscellaneous: Some quick, random notes that you may not know

🗓️ Things to do: Events and activities in Apex for the next 7 days.

🏢 Local Business: Updates on business and developments.

🏛️ Civil News: The latest from local government.

🐶 Animal of the Week: Featured pet looking for a good home.

🔎 What’s Going on Nearby: A brief update on surrounding towns

👀 A Look Ahead: A quick peak at things to know beyond this week.

Miscellaneous

📫️ No Mail Today
All post offices are closed today with no mail delivery to honor former President Jimmy Carter. USPS did mention that limited package delivery would still occur.

🔒️ Safety Reminder
Quick reminder to lock your vehicles when parked outside. We live in a very safe community but saw quite a few vehicle break-ins and a couple of motor vehicle thefts in the past couple of weeks.

🎄 Turn Your Christmas Tree into Mulch!
I see a lot of Christmas trees on the curb, but did you know that you can recycle your Christmas tree to mulch the trails at Wake County Parks? Drop off your undecorated holiday trees at Convenience Center Site 2 (6120 Old Smithfield Road, Apex) from now until January 26. The Convenience Center is open every day from 7am until 7pm.

🌳 Speaking of Trees…
The Town of Apex is a designated Tree City USA community. Plant the Peak is a program designed to increase our overall tree canopy by providing professional installation of native trees on residential single family properties within Apex’s corporate limits, at no cost to the owner or tenant of the property. Apply for the Plant the Peak program and get your free tree!

🏞️ Western Wake Area Plan
The Wake County Board of Commissioners meeting took place Tuesday evening. You can view all of the topics covered here. (Meeting minutes were not yet available at the time of writing, but should be available there as well soon.) Most notably for Apex, the Wake BOC approved the new Western Wake Area Plan which includes buffers for Harris Nuclear Plant, Harris Lake & Jordan Lake watersheds, and 2 multi-use districts & agricultural lands. View the presentation, plan, and resolution here.

🗳️ North Carolina Supreme Court Race
Democratic Supreme Court Justice, Allison Riggs, has remained on top in the race for her Supreme Court seat after multiple recounts, but Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin wants 60,000 ballots to be thrown out. This includes roughly 400 Apex voters. You can check to see if yours is one of them here.

Things to Do This Week:

🤠 Thursday 1/9: Rodeo Round Up (Apex Senior Center)

🖼️ Friday 1/10: Jenny Eggleston - Art Reception Opening

🧑‍🌾 Saturday 1/11: Apex Farmer’s Market

🎹 Sunday 1/12: 10th Anniversary Classical Concert Series (Tickets)

🗑️ Wednesday 1/15: South Wake Landfill Public Tour

Local Business

What’s New

The Cranky Yankee, 101 N Salem St.
Located on the corner of Salem and Chatham, directly across from Anna’s Pizzeria, is this new New York-Style Italian Bakery. This is the same building where A Taste of Brooklyn was previously. While it’s one bakery replacing another bakery, The Cranky Yankee serves up a different menu, offering and service. Don’t worry - the staff and owner aren’t cranky at all and I’m sure you will be greeted with a smile. ☕️ They even serve free coffee!

Blaine’s Barbershop, 837 Perry Rd
With their now second location (Holly Springs), Blaine’s Barbershop offers haircuts for men, women and children.

Bear Hands Gifts, Workshop, and Studio, 305 S Salem St.
This new shop features jewelry and accessories, candles and gifts of all kinds. They also offer workshops, literary and craft events, party packages and open studio times. Located downtown at 305 S. Salem.

North Left, 117 N. Salem St.
I stopped in here the other day and was really impressed. In the space where Werking used to be, North Left is described as a “modern mercantile” with handcrafted unique gifts, jewelry, home decor, apparel and much more. If you haven’t, make sure you stop in here to check it out. 117 N Salem.

LiveSwitch, 209 N. Salem St.
A leading tech company, originally founded in British Columbia and more recently headquartered in Holly Springs, has moved its headquarters into the Highline building on Salem Street as of January 1. LiveSwitch paid $12 million for the 3-story Highline building in downtown Apex giving it 32,000 square feet of space.

The Loop Dental Care, 620 Chessie Sta.
The Apex Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a ribbon cutting for The Loop Dental Care on Friday Jan 10 from 4-5pm.

A Shore Thing Spray Tan Bar, 1485 Kelly Rd.
Offering custom airbrush tanning. Now open in Publix Pointe shopping center.

IONNA Rechargery, 400 N Salem St.
I’ll be honest. I was hoping for a cute little lunch spot in this building, but hey - I’m sure this is a great addition to downtown for those with EVs.

What’s Leaving

Bonafide Bakeshop & Cafe
Bonafide Bakeshop closed their doors for good on January 5.

The Dirty V
The Vegan restaurant, Dirty V, is relocating from their Apex location to Raleigh.

What’s Coming

Mi Cancun Mexican Restaurant
It was previously reported that Mi Cancun would be opening its second Apex location this month. However, I have not seen any updates to know this is still the expected timeline. It will be located in Sweetwater Town Center.

La Farm Bakery
Coming to Salem St / Holleman St. Timing TBD. (Message from Mayor Gilbert’s Facebook yesterday: “the dream of La Farm Bakery finally coming to life right here. We’re 3rd and goal, and we’re driving to the end zone!”)

Chic-Fil-A
A new Chic-Fil-A next to Walmart is under construction. I haven’t seen an opening date, but it looks to be getting close.

Onelife Fitness
Coming soon to replace the Beaver Creek Regal Cinemas. Date TBD.

SoBol
SoBol is a pretty popular spot in Cary offering acai bowls, smoothies and more. Their new location in Apex is opening soon (date TBD) at 451 Richardson Rd.

Did we miss any? There are quite a few new businesses coming to Apex in the near future. We do our best to keep an eye out for specific opening dates. If we missed anything or if you have any tips on upcoming opening dates, reply to this email and let us know!

Civil News

📄 Budget Priorities Survey
As the Town of Apex prepares its next annual budget, they are asking for the town’s input on how your tax dollars should be spent.

Complete the 10-minute survey by February 3, 2025.

🔼 Meter System Upgrade
While this project has been underway for a few months, this is just a quick reminder that the meter system upgrade will continue for the next 8-14 months, reaching every residential and commercial Apex utility customer.

🚦 Friendship Schools Traffic Light
If you’re like me and have car riders at Apex Friendship, then you know how scary this intersection of Humie Olive & Blazing Trail is before and after school. Apparently, NCDOT bid the project to add a much-needed stoplight last year, but the bid failed. However, NCDOT has confirmed that they received additional funding, rebid the project and the bid succeeded. The contract has been awarded and construction should begin in February, finishing up by early summer.

The Apex Friendship Elementary PTA is hosting a meeting this coming Wednesday (1/15) at 6pm to discuss the traffic light and interim solutions. Town officials and school district officials will be present. The meeting is open to Friendship Elementary, Middle School, and High School parents and will take place in the high school auditorium.

🚘️ Saunders Parking Lot
With the holidays behind us, construction on the Saunders Street parking lot is officially under construction. View the final plans here.

Highlights include:

- Creates 152 additional spaces (from 240 to 392)
- Increases the number of EV charging spaces (adds 9)
- Includes tree islands and bio-retention stormwater control

Things to note:

- Rather than close the entire parking lot, only certain sections will be closed at a time

- Look for new parking time limits. To increase parking turnover while parts of the lot are closed, some spaces now have a 2 or 3 hour time limit.

- Apex is piloting a Smart Parking program. It is currently active in the lot on East Moore Street near Holland Jewelers. The pilot includes digital signage in the parking lot as well as a mobile app that gives real-time updates on lot occupancy. Look for this to roll out in additional lots around downtown.

- The town is running a complimentary shuttle service downtown throughout the construction project. You can learn more about the shuttle service and see the shuttle’s location in real-time here.

- Construction is projected to complete by October.

🗓️ Important Dates

Monday, January 13, 2025
Neighborhood Beautification Grant Information Session
5:30-6:30pm (Apex Senior Center)

Monday, January 13, 2025
Planning Board Meeting
4:30pm (Town Hall)

Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Regular Town Council Meeting
6:00pm (Town Hall)

Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Office Hours with Terry Mahaffey (Apex Town Council)
9:00am-10:00am (Mission Market)

Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Learning Lunch: Martin Luther King Jr
12:00-1:00pm (Apex Senior Center)

Animal of the Week - DJ

(via Peak Lab Rescue) Hi! I’m DJ. I am 10 months old and 70 lbs. I’m up-to-date on all my vaccinations and have been neutered.

I’m playful and energetic. I love to run and play. I’m good with other dogs and like to run around with them. I’ve been around kids and I like them, I’m just a goofy puppy that doesn’t know the word careful yet.

I’m housebroken and do great in my crate. I can’t be left in the house unsupervised, so all you have to do is say “go to your room” and give me a treat.

DJ has a lot of puppy energy and would do well in an active-lifestyle home. He has strong athletic abilities and would be good on an agility course.

DJ is currently with a foster and you can donate or apply to adopt him at Peak Lab Rescue.

What’s Going on Nearby?

Holly Springs, NC

Friday, January 10, 2025
Clean Comedy Series with Bob Smiley

Saturday, January 11, 2025
Holly Springs Farmers Market

Cary, NC

January 9, 10, 11, 2025
NC Chinese Lantern Festival

January 11, 2025
Three Kings’ Day Parade

Beginning January 12, 2025
GLOW (Academy Street Artwork)

A Look Ahead

January 17-20, 2025
Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Weekend

January 24-26, 2025
Beauty and The Beast Jr (Halle Cultural Arts)

January 28, 2025
CommUniversity: A Collaborative Approach to Public Safety. Register to reserve your spot

A Final Note

This is the first ever publication of The Peak Weekly. Our goal is to pull all of the best news & information together in one place for the residents of Apex.

Who am I? My name is Adam. Our family moved from Indiana to Apex about 4 years ago. I own and operate a digital marketing agency (don’t worry; I’m not here to promote my business and I never will).

I started this newsletter for 2 reasons. One, I feel like there are a lot of great things going on in Apex but the information is often scattered about between different publications, Facebook groups and/or not promoted in a great way. Two, I’m running this newsletter with my kids to help teach them… whatever I can teach them through this process. (For example: using AI tools to scrape the web for information, how to use email marketing software, etc).

Our goal is to consolidate all of the important information into one weekly newsletter.

If you have any feedback, ideas, or any other thoughts on how to make this newsletter better, please reply to this email or email me directly at [email protected]

Thank you for reading, and please share this newsletter with a friend!

Thanks!

Thank you for reading The Peak Weekly today. If we got something wrong, forgot something important, or if you have any ideas on how to make this weekly email even better, I would love to hear from you. Just reply to this email and it will come straight to me and I will get back to you!